Simple Woman's Daybook Entry



Outside my window... It is 6:28 a.m. and the sprinklers are running, the birds are chirping all over the neighborhood and the sun is peaking up over the trees in the distance.  I have a window open (so I could hear the birds) and it is still very breezy and cool.

I am thinking... That the neighbors across the street really tick me off.  I don't like the fact that they run their sprinklers every.  damn.  morning.  (because they use so much water).  They also wash both their cars every week - sometimes twice.  And their lawn is a beautiful lush green.  That makes me jealous beyond words... our little patch of brown-green drabness will never look that nice.  sigh.

I am thankful... That Dean and I got to go see Sal Khan (creator of Khan Academy) at a speaking engagement at Denver University on Friday evening.  It.  was.  awesome.  I am going to do a whole post about it because I have a lot to say.

I am also thankful for wonderful, creative friends... one of which gave me an award this week!

Thank you Amanda!! I was very touched by your kind words.  :)

Here is a snippet about what the award is about: The Liebster Award is a blog award given to bloggers with less that 200 followers with blogs of note. The title, Liebster, is a German word translating roughly to 'favorite.'  I am to pay it forward and pass this award on to my favorites as well.  I may need an extra week to get this accomplished.


From the Learning Rooms... We managed a lot of math this week and not much else.  The May calendar is from hell!  Jordan did go to Scratch Wednesday (in downtown Denver) for the first time, so Wednesday was shot anyway.  Scratch Wednesday is a time for kids to get together and compare notes, get ideas, show what they have created and so forth - - all in regards to the Scratch program that kids can use to create neat stuff on the computer.  Two of Jordan's friends were there - E and L, who have helped pave the way for Jordan to become involved in the game Minecraft.  E (who just turned 11) had designed and built his own server over the last year-and-a-half.  Jordan is learning so much from him.  They have known each other for almost six years now, and it's nice to see that a true friendship is starting to form - which is a very, very good thing for Jordan.  It has been a long and lonely year.   While Jordan was at his two hour Scratch 'class', I took the kids to the zoo, which is only a few blocks away from where he was.  I came back to collect him and then we went back to the zoo to spend a very lovely afternoon.  The morning was just insane because the place was overrun by school kids, but in the afternoon we nearly had the place to ourselves.  AND  I even parked TWICE and DID NOT get a parking ticket.  Amazing.

In the kitchen... Last night I made a pizza.  The dough turned out better than it has in a long, long time.  (I use a bread machine).  Rylan pulled a chair up to the counter and sliced black olives for me.  She ate four for every one that she sliced.  Just then my stepmom dropped by to pick up something, and the kids just mobbed her with the news of all that they had to share (you know, the mundane stuff like: "LOOK!  I HAVE A LIBRARY BOOK!  LOOK!  I HAVE A COOL BLUE CAR!  LOOK!  I HAVE A BLACK OLIVE ON MY FINGER!")  Every thing they had to say had to be expressed at the 90 decibel level.  Also, using the chair to climb onto the counter so they could be at eye-level seemed like the best way to achieve further emphasis, so both boys were on the island counter, shouting over each other to be heard.  In the meantime, I spread the sauce on the pizza, sprinkled on the cheese and the toppings and it was ready to put in the oven.  I removed the boys from the counter.  I turned to grab the oregano, and when I turned around, there was Colin, on the counter again, and he had just accidentally stepped onto the pizza.  He lifted his foot (now covered in sauce and cheese) and as I lifted him off the counter again, he put his foot down on the pizza and pushed.  The whole pan flew off of the counter and landed buttered-side down.   Crap.  There went our dinner!  I scraped it off of the floor, spread it all around the pan and baked it.  Dog hair and all.  At least Abby isn't in full shed yet.  I promise that if you come over for dinner, I will mop the floor before I cook.  That way, if I have to scrape it off the floor and put it back in the pan, it won't be all covered in kitchen-floor-grossness.

I am wearing... pjs.  I really need new pjs.  These are the ones I wore when I went into the hospital to deliver Rylan.  That was almost six years ago to the day.  It's time.   Hmmm.  Mother's Day is coming up, isn't it??  Hmmm?




I am creating... Two birthday cakes this week.  Jordan's is simple.  It's his favorite, year-after-year: chocolate black-out cake.  Rylan wants a doll cake.  God help me.  We looked at about two hundred doll cakes yesterday, trying to find something she liked.

She would like something like this:

www.cakejournal.com

If I tried that, if would look like this:

I don't exactly have mad skillz when it comes to cake decorating.  We'll see.  The worst that could happen is that I would wind up on Cake Wrecks.  Although they say they only make fun of the professional cakes.

I am going... This week is nuts.  It's Birthday Week.  Things don't really heat up until Thursday.  And then it is a solid 72 hours of GO!GO!GO!  I can't wait for Sunday.


I am wondering... How difficult it really is to make fondant. I don't think I am brave enough to try it. Plus, I heard it tastes yucky.

I am reading... I've given up on The Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marian Keyes.  I am just frustrated because it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.  I am instead going to pick up where I left off with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and finish that series off.

I am hoping... That the Spring Camporee that Dean and Jordan went on this weekend went well.  I'm tense and bracing myself in case it didn't.  Things have been less than stellar with scouts, lately.


I am looking forward to... (Sunday?)  I am looking forward to Jordan turning 12 on Wednesday, a nature outing with a friend on that day while Jordan goes on a field trip, book club with the girls on Thursday, Homeschool Day at the amusement park on Friday, and Rylan turning 6 on Saturday. 

I am learning... More about all of the fabulous things Jordan can learn on Khan Academy.  Dean has already set himself up as a coach, I need to add myself as well, plus create an account for Rylan.


I am hearing...  No more birds.. :( The neighborhood is absolutely quiet. Usually some idiot is mowing by now... Ahhh. I'll enjoy this while it lasts. (It is now 8:15. This post has taken nearly two hours??)  Rylan just got up and is now sitting at the desk behind me, illustrating a story in her composition book.



Around the house... I am going to put in the tomatoes today, as soon as Dean gets home and helps me get the frame in.  And no, I will not be using the same straw this time...

I am pondering... How scouts just exacerbates all of the social issues (covert bullying, ostracism, inappropriate age-related topics of discussion), that we are purposely avoiding by homeschooling in the first place.  Dean and I are sort of at odds about this.  As Assistant Scoutmaster, Dean is unable to intervene on Jordan's behalf.  I am unable to intervene due to personal reasons.  I am just so frustrated for Jordan.  No boy is willing to give him a chance because of how they perceive him (hyper and clown-like at times).  And they base their perceptions on the opinions others... so it is just this perpetual cycle.  It is not Jordan's fault that he is who he is.  It is not Jordan's fault that he still struggles with appropriate physical and emotional boundaries - he gets a lot of coaching from us, but ultimately he is in charge of his self-management.  He still has a lot of maturing to do.  Several of those boys do.  Yet when Jordan is consistenly passed over or chosen last, when (as current Patrol Leader) the entire patrol pays him no attention during patrol time and instead wanders off because of the intentional encouragement of another, it leaves Jordan in a hellish perpetual state of "What's wrong with me??"  Dean insists that it is Jordan's battle (within himself) to fight and conquer his inappropriate behaviors and ultimately find his place within the group.  I just feel protective and want the cliqueishness to stop (they are worse than girls!!).  Dean was like Jordan at his age so he relates to Jordan's struggle as something that he will eventually grow out of - and be all the stronger for it.  I experienced the ostracism that Jordan does - and I am not the stronger for it.  It hurts to this day.  I hurt when I hear about what is happening... and I know I am projecting my own personal feelings into this mess, and I don't know how to do otherwise.  It just sucks in every way you look at it - and I am taking a huge personal risk even discussing it here... yet it has been on my mind for months.  And this is my personal place to bring my troubles and lay them down, so I guess it is time.

One of my favorite things... Now I am in such a mood that it is hard to handle this question.  Hmm.  The quiet of the house in the mornings.  I need to return to that peaceful state asap.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Well, I guess I already talked about that, didn't I?  Rylan is having her very first 'friend' birthday party.  She is inviting all of her daisy scout friends.  I need to think about party favors and doll cakes and decorations.  Even though I don't want to.  It makes my head hurt.  Jordan isn't having a party because 'I don't really have any friends!' (his words, not mine).  Yes he does, but they are all very different from each other and a 'party' per se would be awkward.  He will invite his friend, Henry, to come along to Rylan's gymnastics party.  He will get to play Minecraft to his heart's content with his friend E., and go and see a movie with his best friend Abbi.  As long as he has his chocolate cake, he's happy.  We will do a nice family dinner out on his birthday as well.


Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

Rylan on the carousel at the Denver Zoo

Hope you all have a good week.  It is now 9:40am  Can I be done now?  I think so.  :)




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